Guam's public schools that have passed Public Health inspections are barely making the grade. The concern still is felt by Guam Department of Education stakeholders, as the pressure is on to get the students back into the classrooms this month.

GDOE leaders are certain they will make that happen, but the education oversight chair is disappointed and sticking to his guns that while getting the kids back to school is the right thing - it's wrong to put them in conditions that risk their health and safety.

Freshman senator Chris Barnett was openly emotional on session floor, proclaiming through tears that he was trying to fight to keep the law he authored in place. Asked if he feels that he's lost that battle he responded, "I don't feel that we've lost the battle, but it's definitely a bump in the road as far as the fight goes, and I'm just not sure what the governor is talking about - I saw you guys had interviewed her yesterday, and she had said that none of the legislation she signed into law gives the Guam Department of Education free rein to ignore Public Health safety and sanitation rules for schools, and I completely disagree with that because two of the bills that she signed into law do exactly that."

Barnett, the legislative oversight for education, is not one to hold back how he really feels. When we inquired about how this clear reversal makes him feel, given a fair amount of constituents offering their support, he said, "Right, and I think that's key. The people of Guam, they wanted this standard, they wanted it now - they didn't want to have to wait another year, and although I'm disappointed in my colleagues, because it is a little bit of a cha-cha - we went two steps forward and now we're going two steps back, and I think they acted without a full understanding of the issue with the GDOE schools. GDOE was very clear and said they needed more time, and more importantly, more support to open schools that safe and sanitary, now and not next year."

It's support Governor Lou Leon Guerrero vowed. In an interview with KUAM News on Monday, the Maga'haga' said the new law she signed over the weekend still holds the Guam Department of Education accountable for fixing the schools.

But it prevents holding back students from learning, as she said, “It’s unfortunate that because of the lack of research and thinking, Senator Barnett had flawlessly passed this piece of legislation, Public Law 37-4, which I think was the crux of the reasons for all the chaos, anxiety, the uncertainties of our people, especially parents and students.”

The senator was reminded how the governor said he failed to do his research, and as a result, Public Law 37-4 has been the crux for all the reasons for chaos and anxiety among students and parents, as she asserted. "I think it's clear that what really caused the chaos was the lack of support from the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio administration," he said in response.

"If we take it back to the beginning of this year when I introduced Bill 29, which eventually became Public Law 37-4, I think it was clear that I did do my research, We had rats in the schools, we had mold in the schools, we had fleas in the schools, and our schools were literally falling down around our students' ears. So, I think that was all the evidence we needed to move this new standard up."

The reality is highlighted in the Department of Public Health's Division of Environmental Health's inspection reports that have been published so far. As of today, only four GDOE schools have made the grade – but are each close to failing.

Inalahan Elementary School getting a ‘C’ rating; inspectors are finding dead insects like cockroaches, crikets, and spiders; floor tiles and walls in disrepair, holes in the wall, peeling paint, student desks in disrepair, broken classroom equipment, air condition leaks, poor lighting, multiple issues in the restrooms and more.

Untalan Middle School is also getting a ‘C’, with certain areas of its Barrigada cordoned-off, and dirty classrooms with humid temperatures among other violations.

Further north, JFK high school was one point shy of failing, getting a ‘C' itself. Inadequate number of trash bins, floors unmaintained, peeling paint, dirty windows, inadequate storage of maintenance and instructional equipment, dirty ventilation system filters and violations with the showers and restrooms.

Merizo Martyrs Elementary Shcool also got a ‘C’ with one point shy from failing. The school’s report however has not yet been published by Public Health.

And getting ‘D’ ratings from inspections conducted this year: Adacao Elementary, Wettengel Elementary, Oceanview Middle, and Simon Sanchez High.

Seeing these inspection results, does Senator Barnett think GovGuam has failed its students? "I think that it goes to show, that first of all, GDOE has worked very hard to come into compliance with P.L. 37-4, but I think they could've done much better," he said. "And we all could've done much better as an island, if we had gotten the promised help from Adelup. Adelup came out in February, Adelup came out in May, and said they were going to do everything they could to help fix our schools, and sadly, that never materialized."

Barnett adding that the recent bills the governor signed into law expose the Guam Department of Education to potential lawsuits.